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Zoom G3 & GarageBand hands down
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07-24-2015 03:59 AM
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Or - maybe you should consider to switch over to Linux. There are two main guitar amp simulator apps, with lots of presets (including few cool jazz presets) Rakarrack and Guitarix. You can record and monitor guitar in virtually real time, if you configure your system right, in DAW's like Ardour, Qtractor, Muse or in Audacity. Plenty of plugins and utilities like tuners, metronomes, great rhythm machine - Hydrogen.
But, what I like the most, and the reason I switched from Windows is the fact that I can play the guitar while watching YouTube videos and other multimedia content online and offline in real time, with a decent sound and loudness, virtually no noise - and all that with an average sound card and an average computer in general. Furthermore, transcribing is easier with playing the guitar in real time, slowing down the tune in players like VLC and writing it down with MuseScore or Impro-Visor, the free and open source equivalents to Finale and BIAB, having headphones and not bothering anyone in the house. Needles to say, that's a great environment for learning to play. I've turned my laptop into a personal jazz guitar academy
I couldn't do that in Windows. It was close to it in Windows 8.1 with the WASAPI shared mode in Reaper, but there was a noticeable lag anyway.
And yeah, you get all thatl for free (and your valuable time to learn how to get around, but that's the part of the fun anyway, plus you get that geeky vibe and feel
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Last edited by aleksandar; 08-05-2015 at 12:30 PM.
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Originally Posted by fumblefingers
If you want to save a lot of time and grief.
1 Buy a Mac Pro
2 Buy one of the Apollo interfaces
3 buy one good microphone....doesn't have to be a boutique one. A Shure SM7B .....about $700 will be great is is a go to for many working engineers. Jack of all trades and quite un colored.
4 find out if Garage Band works with the interface you choose, if not buy Logic ProX. For what you want it will be quite simple to learn. You only need to learn what you need it for. It's about $300 and works well with Apollo interface.
I don't get the impression that you want to go cheap and waste your time problem solving.
just my 2c but I've been in the game all my life and recording and writing is how I make my living.
Buy the best you can afford and good luck.
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OP, what platform are you accustomed to? Mac, PC, tablet?
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I am interested in the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 because of positive reviews (in this forum, too). I would like to use it mainly to record the electrical output from the guitar directly. (And have the option to record from a mic.)
I've been to a shop to inform about it. Now the trouble is that the software that comes with it (a basic version of Ableton), does not seem to allow for guitar amp/cabinet modelling. That would mean that you can only record the 'naked' guitar sound, which won't be very pleasant. The guy from the shop recommended the Guitar Rig add-on (€ 199,-). But that removes the charm of having a relatively low-budget solution.
So, what software would I need to get amp modelling? (Don't want anything wild, just a nice semi-acoustic bebop sound.)
Or would it be smarter to buy an audio interface that allows for amp modelling out of the box? (e.g. Line 6 UX-1 or Zoom G3X.)
BTW: I have a Windows PC.Last edited by Wilfred2; 12-12-2015 at 02:32 PM.
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You might consider a mobile-device based amp modeler like the Bias amps that run on most tablets and smart phones. that and a good digital adaptor to plug the guitar into the phone, and you can output often directly to the computer via USB. Or you can output to some other box if you want to mix with another signal.
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To keep things simple, get an irig HD (recently upgraded to 24/96 resolution), and learn how to use garageband on your ipad or imac - the irig HD has connectors for each. Later, you can go in other directions. Some of the advice above is too complex for a newbie, IMO.
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Thanks for the advice, guys!
The Bias Amp software looks quite advanced. (A bit too advanced for my purposes, actually.)
Keeping things simple is certainly a good idea, if you want to spend your time playing guitar instead of struggling with software. (I didn't really )-:
Working with a mobile device is probably a great solution if you need to travel frequently with your gear, but that's not really relevant for me at the moment. Besides, I'm worried about a possible delay of the signal. (See below.)
There seems to be more music software available for Apple devices than for Windows, and often at a (much) lower price. However, I am not yet motivated enough to move to an Apple device.
I will describe my solution here, hoping it might be helpful for somebody.
I bought the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, as was my original plan. It has 2 inputs for microphone or direct input from guitar. (Only tried direct input from guitar so far.) (Besides, it's great as an external DAC/headphone amplifier!) It comes with Ableton Live software. From what I read, this software would be aimed more at creating electronic music than at recording, but I found it very easy to record several tracks, or import a backing track from an mp3 file and record a solo on top of it. (I probably use about 1% of the capabilities of the program...) Using the monitor feature of the Focusrite, I can hear the existing tracks together with what I am currently playing on my headphones.
A big desire was to have some sort of amp/cabinet simulation. Ableton Live has some basic amp simulations, but I didn't find them convincing. Several plug-ins (effects) for Ableton Live can be downloaded for free, based on the Focusrite license, but no amp simulation. (I haven't installed them all yet. It's not all plug and play :-( But I like the Softube TSAR-1R Reverb, that sounds like a very natural room response.)
I also downloaded the free variant of Line6 POD Farm. This includes a few amplifiers/cabinets/effects. (Not enough to be able to use the Wes Montgomery preset )-: There should be free variants of GuitarRig and AmpliTube as well.
I spent much more time fiddling with the settings than I intended, but I reached a satisfying clean bebop sound with the following simulated signal chain: PowerAmp (Line6) (This is a neutrally sounding amp) --> Brit Celest cabinet + dynamic mic (Line6) --> 'Console' preamp (Line6) (This has a 4-band equalizer. Rolled the highs a bit down.) --> [Spring reverb (Line6)] --> TSAR-1R Reverb (Softube).
Something I would have liked, is to hear the processed guitar sound through the headphones (or speakers) while playing. But unfortunately, this is only possible with a noticeable delay.
I plan to look at the recording software of AmpliTube later. It seems to be simpler than Ableton Live, and to have useful features for practising.
Final note: I hoped to come close to what Jack Zucker posted elsewhere in this forum. (See links below.) I'm not there yet, but that will have something to do with the quality of my guitar and my playing.
Links:
https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/recor...zz-guitar.html
5 Tips for Purchasing a DAW | GuitarPlayer
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Yes Ableton Live is marketed for live usage, but I found it really easy to use to record a few audio tracks, say guitar and vocals one after the other. I later tried and gave up to use Cubase, which I found overcomplicated for that task. But of course, I got familiar with Ableton over the years and I did not invest into following the learning curve for Cubase.
The delay of hearing the guitar played back is due to the software latency. A good value is a few ms. Achieving this requires a good audio interface, an ASIO audio driver (not the default OS one), and a reasonably fast processor.
And also in a later step, tweaking the OS for audio performance, basically preventing audio useless software to run on the machine while recording: no fancy windows graphic like aero, no network connection, no antivirus or other monitoring software, etc ..
Using ASIO audio drivers is key, default Windows driver leads to delay on the order of a few 100 ms, which is not usable for playing while hearing using a headset.
On a 2.5Ghz core 2 old laptop, using a top quality RME Fireface UC audio interface, I achieved a 6ms delay using Ableton (network connected). On my new 3.5Ghz Xeon PC from XI-machines, same interface, I'm now at 3ms with no effort at all to improve it.
I guess most reasonable quality audio interfaces allow to reach 10 ms or so delay
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The thing about recording on the computer and recording guitar is that it is a journey. I am not a great Jazz guitarist, although reasonable at the kind of music I do, but I am getting good at working with Cubase. I can make what I play in Cubase sound pretty good. However, like all the old lags on this site who talk about really playing jazz, it comes at a cost and that means you have to put the time into learning about the whole process.
There is no substitute for learning your software. It does not really matter what it is. Logic, Reaper, Cubase or ProTools, they all demand a certain intimacy. You have to go through the rookie stage - the "oh my God I can't do this" stage - the I'm never going to master this stage. You can't master parallel compression or side-chaining until you have a thorough understanding of the architecture of your chosen DAW. The basics, as always, are the start of the learning curve. There is no avoiding it or no alternative.
Your first recordings may well be utter rubbish, but they will improve. Just think back to when you started playing. You may well find that you make all the wrong decisions about equipment because you were too impatient to do the proper research. You may lose interest because of the time it takes to produced polished results. However there is nothing like writing and producing your own work. You will find out things about your playing that you never imagined and it will force you to be far more realistic about your interests and ambitions.
I dealt with the latency issue by buying a Kemper Profiling Amp and direct monitoring with it. It has given me some of the best clean sounds I have ever heard - well from myself. You can direct monitor with any amp sim that has a standalone version, provided your sound card allows you to monitor two or more applications.
I started off with Cubase on the Atari using a cassette base recorder. I have created more terrible sounding recordings than you can imagine. However, I have also had more fun than you could believe. Especially when working with others.
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Yet another Reaper fan. I agree with fep, great software!
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Try JamUp, it's free and you can buy effects and amps ehen you need them, JamUp pro comes with more amps and effects than the free version
In terms of sound quality is the best and also has a mixer, you can load you backing track and record with a decent quality. It also comes with metronome, tuner and looper/sampler.
I gave it a try some days ago and I was able to dial a nice fender sound and record a song in 10 min.
IMO is the best all-in-one software for guitar atm
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Another +1 for Reaper. I use a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 for the interface.
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Wilfred2,
As stated above I use Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 and Reaper. However, I read about your latency problem with the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. The 18i20 uses Scarlett Mix Control in the background to interface with Reaper. I don't know what the 2i2 uses, but if it uses a Scarlett Mix Control to interface with your DAW, then open up the Scarlett Mix Control and go to the settings and select something like 3ms or so and that should completely eliminate your latency problem with the 2i2. Make sure have chosen the Focusrite Scarlett ASIO in your DAW. Hope this helps.
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2i2 doesn't use mix control, but it has a "Direct Monitor" switch on the front panel. Set the switch to "On" and there will be absolutely zero latency between what you're listening to and what you're playing.
Use of ASIO driver is important in the audio hardware settings.
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Thanks Ken Bennett for correcting that for me. I've never used the 2i2, just the 18i20 from the Focusrite lineup. While the Mix Control software for the 18i20 also has a "Direct Monitor" option (via software, not a hardware switch), one would not be able to hear any effects such as reverb, that they may have applied in their DAW. But if one has latency problems it is a viable solution.
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May be a free plug in would work for you.
I did find this video. (I did not watch it myself.)
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Just realized all these examples are high gain. You could probably search further and find something. Originally Posted by DanielleOM
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mclaughlin sound here
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